Torn Lotus
by SilverFoxSage
Summary: Jaune convinced Ozpin to let Team JNPR go on the mission that was delayed by the events of Breach, but some missions don't end with triumphant fanfare. A tribute to Monty Oum.


**I opened this word document with the intention of writing another chapter for The Vulpine Huntsman of Vale. However, given the recent news of Monty Oum's death, my inspiration for that story seems to have left me, in favor of something else. I am no artist. I can't draw or paint something to honor Monty for all of the amazing things he's done. I can't create anything that way, so I'll do my best to honor him with this instead.**

* * *

Ruby yawned and allowed her cheek to rest on her hand as she tried to stay awake and pay attention to Professor Port's lecture. The rotund man was as boring as ever, and it was rare that he ever brought up important information in his lectures. In Ruby's opinion, it was a wonder that anyone ever passed the class at all.

Weiss sent a mild glare towards Ruby in reaction to her yawn, but couldn't help but smirk as she refocused. Ruby wouldn't be Ruby without some childish behavior every once in a while, and Weiss wouldn't have her partner and leader any other way.

Well… she might have her be a bit more attentive in class…

Yang was busy trying to distract Blake through various means. The Faunus girl had long ago confiscated Yang's laser pointer, so the blonde brawler had made it her mission in life to find as many other ways to irritate Blake as humanly possible. The best measure of her progress was the bow atop Blake's head; the more it twitched, the better Yang was doing.

Team JNPR would normally be sitting with Team RWBY in this class, but they were outside of Vale at the moment. Jaune had made good on his promise to Ren, and had convinced Ozpin to allow them to go out on their original mission after the fiasco from Mountain Glen was over, and all of the chaos from it had settled down. They were shadowing the sheriff of a small town not too far outside of Vale. In those small towns, it was the sheriff's job to both enforce the law and to organize the defense against intruding Grimm, so they had an excellent opportunity to learn about all of the aspects of a Hunter's duty.

By the time class ended, Blake was glaring at Yang in irritation, and Yang was smirking back at her. Three bow twitches in one class period was by no means Yang's record, but it was a number to be proud of on an average day.

"Hey, isn't Team JNPR supposed to be getting back today?" Yang asked suddenly.

After taking a moment to think about it, Blake nodded. "Yeah, that's right. The bullhead is scheduled to return this afternoon."

"Ooh!" Ruby said "We could go out and welcome them back! Come on!" She rushed off in the direction of the courtyard before her teammates could stop her, so they were forced to follow behind her.

Weiss was irritated. "That dunce. If we go there now, we would have to wait for hours before they got here."

* * *

By the time that the rest of Team RWBY had caught up to their leader, she was already in the courtyard, looking out at Vale, as if she was trying to see the expected Bullhead before it arrived. Ruby turned around as her teammates approached. "Oh, there you are. Where did you three go?"

"You're the one who ran off somewhere!" Weiss scolded. "Besides, it's no use waiting here right now. Team JNPR isn't supposed to be back until much later."

"Oh, yeah. I guess I-" Ruby halted mid-sentence as a Bullhead sped in from the direction of the city. "Ooh! Is that them? Maybe they're back early."

The four girls watched as the Bullhead approached the docking area, but were confused when it didn't even slow down as it came in. It passed over the docking area, and someone jumped out of the bay door to land where the Bullhead normally would have set down to unload passengers. The airship then turned slightly and sped up, heading for a different part of Beacon's campus.

"What's up with that?" Yang asked. "I've never seen a Bullhead pull a maneuver like that. At least, not at Beacon. Why didn't it land?"

Blake followed the direction that the Bullhead was taking with her eyes. "Isn't that… the direction the hospital is in?"

None of the members of Team RWBY had ever needed to visit Beacon's hospital themselves, but it was certainly a necessary facility at a combat school.

"Yeah, it is," Ruby confirmed. "You don't think…"

She trailed off as the figure that had dropped down from the Bullhead began to draw near them. The person in question was running, obviously in a hurry, and once they were close enough, it was clear that the figure was none other than Professor Peach, the Huntress who had accompanied Team JNPR to their mission.

"Professor Peach!" Ruby called out, beginning to feel worried. "What's going on? Why didn't the ship land? Where's Team JNPR?"

The professor stopped in front of them. "Team JNPR is headed to the hospital," she confirmed. "During an unexpected Grimm encounter, Lie Ren was severely injured. He was struck in the throat by an Ursa. I'm sorry, but I'm in a bit of a rush. If you'll excuse me…"

Professor Peach had hardly begun moving toward the school when she was overtaken by four blurs, as the members of Team RWBY ran in the same direction the Bullhead had flown less than a minute before.

* * *

The hallway in Beacon's hospital seemed too still; too peaceful, given what had happened. There were no nurses or doctors rushing around, no sense of panic in the atmosphere to reflect the severity of the situation. It probably would have been virtually silent as well, except for the sobbing that was coming from a girl waiting just outside the room that Ren was in.

They had never seen Nora cry before.

Jaune and Pyrrha were already there, Pyrrha embracing the usually bubbly girl, and Jaune with a hand on her shoulder as she broke down.

As Team RWBY approached them, they saw that Nora wasn't the only one shedding tears. Pyrrha, normally so strong and unshakable, was crying along with Nora. Her breathing was uneven as she suppressed her sobs to comfort her teammate. Jaune, despite doing his best to keep a cool head and be there for his team, also had tears streaming down his face. His shoulders quivered with each breath he took.

Jaune was the first to notice Team RWBY's approach. He turned his head toward them, and tried to wipe his tears away. "Hey, guys… I-"

Whatever he was going to say was lost as Ruby rushed forward and wrapped her fellow team leader in an embrace, the tears that she had been holding back until this point finally leaking out of her eyes.

The rest of Ruby's team moved forward as well, even Weiss only hesitating for a moment before going to comfort the three members of Team JNPR who were in front of them. Blake began to rub Nora's back and tell her that everything would be okay, and Weiss was pulled into a group hug by Ruby. Within seconds, Yang had pulled all seven of them together in one massive group hug.

They stayed like that for almost an hour, comforting each other and being together as they waited. When the doctor finally exited the room, they didn't notice at first. It took the doctor clearing his throat to get their attention, and when they realized that he was there, he was immediately set upon by all seven of them. He couldn't make out any one individual question in the clamoring and chaos that resulted, so he took a moment to calm everyone down to the point where he could explain what was going on.

"Listen, about your friend… we've done all we can for the moment, and we will continue to give him the best medical care that Beacon has to offer, but I'm afraid that we aren't sure if he will be able to pull through…"

Nora collapsed into a nearby chair, staring down at the ground and breathing shakily. She had run out of tears to shed for her partner. The others sat around her, and listened as the doctor told them about Ren's condition.

* * *

**Several days later**

* * *

"So, there we were, in the middle of the night…" Nora began.

The doctor had told them that soon after they began treatment, Ren had lost consciousness and fallen into a coma. Even if they hadn't been more focused on repairing the damage to the young Huntsman's throat, there wasn't much they could have done about that anyway.

"…We were surrounded…"

Once a Hunter went into a coma from lack of Aura, it was up to their spirit to endure and give their body the strength to recover. For most Hunters, this coma would only persist for three or four days at most, whether the battle was won or lost. Lie Ren had laid in his coma for ten days.

"…by _a hundred _Ursi."

Nora paused in her narrative. Where once, there would have been a voice interrupting, correcting her and keeping her on track, there was only silence.

She looked to her right, and her gaze locked with a pair of pink eyes. He had one eyebrow raised, and his lips curved slightly into a smirk.

"Right. Sorry, Ren. I guess it really was only a few dozen."

On the eleventh day, Lie Ren had awoken from his coma. The doctor said that the only reason that Ren was still alive was his incredible willpower, and massive resolve. The young man's Aura, his spirit, had kept him alive even when his body should have failed him.

However, Ren would never speak again. The Ursa's claws had left two thick and jagged scars across his throat: an eternal testament to the tragedy that had silenced him. Instead, having known him so well for so long, Nora would speak for him. It was heartwarming to see how Nora could see Ren's slightest gesture or facial expression, and interpret them into full sentences.

Ren had always said that Nora did enough talking for the both of them.

"So, the sheriff told us all to pull back, but we couldn't just leave the Grimm to get into the village…" Nora continued telling Team RWBY the story about how their mission had gone, occasionally saying something slightly outrageous, but always correcting herself after making eye contact with Ren. Sometimes, the pink-eyed warrior would have to nudge her to let her know that she had strayed from an accurate retelling of what happened, but Nora looked over at him frequently enough that it usually wasn't necessary.

Jaune smiled as Nora once again corrected herself at Ren's playful nudge. Despite everything, Team JNPR had survived that mission, and the horrible aftermath. His smile faded slightly as his eyes moved to Ren's fresh scars.

They did not come out of that mission whole. They were not unscathed. Things would never really be the same again. But they had survived, and they would keep moving forward.

* * *

**I'm not usually one for a lot of symbolism, but in this case, I think it's appropriate, if not very subtle.**

**I want to send a message out to everyone in the RWBY fandom. RoosterTeeth, Achievement Hunter, and their community have been hit very hard by this tragedy. They need our support, and they need time to grieve. The RWBY fandom, and many of the followers of RoosterTeeth, are like a family in a lot of ways.**

**Recently, there have been a lot of people messaging the various members of RoosterTeeth, asking about the future of RWBY or RvB, and I find it absolutely disgusting that it escalated to the point where they had to come out and directly tell people to stop it. Monty Oum meant so much more to them than a show or a series, and it is incredibly insensitive for people to be clamoring on about things that are so petty compared to what has happened. I hope that all of my readers will be considerate of this family that is mourning right now, and that you encourage others to be considerate as well.**

**Anybody who only cares about how this tragedy will affect the shows they like to watch is NOT a true member of this family. They are ****_persona non grata _****to us, and you should all make that extremely clear to them.**

**That being said, there is no doubt in my mind that RWBY and RvB will continue in due time. Those who worked closely with Monty won't let his creations just fade away. They will continue on, not despite Monty's passing, but to honor his memory.**

**Keep moving forward, everyone.**


End file.
